


Hands In The Flowers

by Oblivion_Wanderer



Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Gardening, Gen, Hidden hobbies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-29
Updated: 2019-11-29
Packaged: 2021-02-17 22:08:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21600514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oblivion_Wanderer/pseuds/Oblivion_Wanderer
Summary: Lucy discovers her teammate's secret hobby.
Kudos: 2





	Hands In The Flowers

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written for a destiny group I used to be in.
> 
> Title from the song of the same name by Savage Sister

She can’t place an exact explanation for why she had developed a fondness for plants in her years since being revived.

Maybe it was something in her past life; not that she would remember. Ivo theorized that perhaps that was the case, that maybe the person who was before shared the same interest in plants and that trait had carried over to her current self. On that note, he also liked to joke that maybe she had been a botanist before; one who studies plants. It was plausible, she would admit, but Nelan knew nothing of her life before, so it wasn’t certain of an origin of why exactly she liked plants. Ivo’s theory would be correct if she had been an Earth-born Awoken, but Nelan didn’t even know that much; whether she had been born in the Reef or on Earth. Were there even plants in the reef?

None the less, she liked plants. Maybe it was because of the variety, or the colors, different types- Maybe her past self had never seen flowers until this life.

Eventually, this lead to Nelan making a garden. She wasn’t sure how to go about it at first, but Ivo directed her to a garden at the Tower tended to by Guardians. They were mostly Warlocks, but they welcomed her and offered her a place in the garden to grow her own plants.

Sometimes she talked to the plants she grew as well, freely sharing her thought aloud. Ivo said he thought it was silly (also because he was always there willing to listen to whatever was on her mind), but he also said he understood why she did it. To Nelan, this was a calming thing that helped ease her heart and mind whenever there was something troubling her.

Despite both the friendliness of the other Guardians and finding company among the plants, Nelan hardly mentioned this to anyone. It was a foolish reason, but the reason she hid this lay in the fact she was a Hunter. Hunters are always out exploring the wilds, scouting ahead, yes, however you don’t think Hunter and immediately associate it with something as quiet and uneventful as tending to a garden and liking plants (or at least that’s how it was for Nelan). Mostly Warlocks tended to the Garden anyway, a few Titans as well. As far as Nelan knew, she was the only Hunter in the group. So, she kept it hidden, even to her fireteam. Ivo was the only one who really knew.

For years, even through the Taken War and the SIVA Crisis, she tended to her part of the garden. She grew herbs and flowers. She still talked to her plants through these times too, alongside of Ivo’s observations on the plants whenever they visited. Eventually she also acquired a succulent, which she kept in her apartment at the Tower. It didn’t need much, but she always made sure to take proper care of it.

This was her hushed secret, and she didn’t mind. She was content.

Such was for years… until the Red War started and the City was attacked.

Thoughts of her garden plot didn’t even cross her mind till after the war. When she returned to the Tower, she found the garden burned like everything else. Her succulent she had kept was gone too. Nothing much remained.

She started the garden anew, along with every other surviving Guardian that once tended to it. She planted new flowers and herbs where the old ones had been. She even gathered a few plants from off world to try and grow, including a particularly interesting flower from Nessus. Nelan got a new succulent as well to care for.

As the City rebuilt, new troubles arose on Mercury, Mars, Titan, and the orbit of Nessus (in the form of one eyesore of a ship). In one instance, Nelan found herself caught in the crossfire of a shadow of her past that had come back to haunt her. Still, through all of that, she tended to the garden once more; fell into old routines and helped it become as beautiful as it once had been. She still kept quiet about it, the foolish reason remaining. It was her own guilty pleasure, in a sense, but it was hers all the same.

One day, after a particularly stressful mission with her fireteam on Nessus, Nelan quietly excused herself from the group and left, not telling them where she was going.

Left behind, the Titan of the trio, Lucy Carter, looked to the Warlock Murph-9 for an answer. He said he could point Lucy in the direction of where Nelan had gone.

Lucy followed the directions, and when she got to the destination, she found herself at a garden. There, on her knees and watering a patch of flowers was Nelan.

“The Roses are doing well.” Lucy heard the Hunter’s Ghost, Ivo, comment as she quietly approached. “And the Lavender looks about ready to be harvested.”

Nelan set the watering can down, seeming not to notice Lucy yet. “Mmhm.”

“I’m still unsure about the plant you brought back from Nessus though-” Ivo flew around the Lavender plant, and then spotted Lucy. “Oh. I didn’t see you there.”

Now Nelan looked up to see her. “Lucy.”

“Hey.” The Titan tried. “Didn’t know you were a gardener.”

“Did you know I was here?”

“Murph told me where to find you.”

“Murph? How did- He’s a Warlock; of course he knows. Probably knows other Warlocks who come here.”

Lucy flashed a smile at her friend. “Yeah, you ran off back there without saying much and we were kinda worried. I asked him if he knew if something was up and he told me I’d find you here.”

Nelan sighed, turning back to her plants. “I like to come here. I like plants- flowers, herbs, succulents- which is why I took up a spot here. Sometimes I come here when I need a way to calm down and clear my head.”

“Like relieving stress?”

“Yes. Sometimes I… I talk to the plants as well.”

“Really?” Lucy asked, a hint of a chuckle in her voice.

“It helps.” Nelan reached out and ran her fingers across the top of a rose. “I lost all this when the Red Legion attacked us. Me and the other surviving Guardians who originally tended to it rebuilt and replanted the garden after we took back the City. I’m glad we were able to get it restored.”

“That’s good… How come you never mentioned it before? You’ve got some pretty stuff here.”

“She’s afraid of being ridiculed.” Ivo spoke up instead. “I personally don’t think she needs to hide it.”

“I know it’s ridiculous, Ivo, but when you hear Hunter, you don’t think gardener.”

“Is that why?” Lucy asked, gently.

“When I started coming here, there were mostly Warlocks. There were a few Titans as well, but no Hunters. I think someone told me Quinn used to come here before his passing, but that was before I found the garden. As the only Hunter that visited the garden, I didn’t tell anyone for that reason. When you hear Hunter- often times Hunters are thought of as loners or wild spirits… or like Cayde. But here I am, so that’s why.”

“But you’re no ordinary Hunter.” Lucy replied, reaching out and placing a hand on Nelan’s shoulder. “That much I know from knowing you. You’re quiet and kind, and I know you love to be out in the wilds exploring, so I’m not too surprised to find you enjoy gardening. I think it’s great you enjoy stuff like this.”

Finally, Nelan smiled. “Thank you.”

“Listen, if you don’t want me to, I won’t say a word about it to anyone. I don’t think you need to hide it, but I’ll remain quiet if that’s what you want.”

“I appreciate it.”

Lucy smiled at her again. “Hey, how about you tell me about these plants; I’m kinda curious. Also, did Ivo say something about a plant you acquired from Nessus? How did you manage that?”

Nelan laughed, her mood seeming to change. “Let me tell you.”


End file.
